OCR Text |
Show CULL POOR PRODUCING HENS Work Should Be Started In Oummer and During Early Fall Months-Comb Months-Comb Is Indicator. The hens should be culled out during dur-ing tho summer and early full months, beginning to cull out the poor producers Just ns soon us they stop laj lug, which Is iisuully In July and August. When a hen Is In Ing her comb will be large, full of blood mid bright red In color. As she stops laying, lay-ing, the comb becomes small mill shrunken, pale or dull In color, nnd Is usually rather hard. Another good Indication to use In selecting those hens which stop laying early Is molting, molt-ing, as the hens that start to molt early that Is, In July nnd August-are August-are usually the poorest producers. While a hen which has molted moat of her feathcra la very easy to pick' out by sight without examination, the only way to ascertain accurately when the hens begin to molt Is to nan. die them. Uefora the body and wing feathers arc molted tn any great nom- WI '""Sg W" """-Wi"inllilii ii'l l, i ia iiir--rn"WMialin- " " ber you will find short pin feathers growing thickly on Ihe back nnd In the feather tracts running back from the breast, Indicating that the. Vns hove started to molt and probably lime RtopKd Injlng If their combs and genera) appearance Indlcnte mm-produitlon. mm-produitlon. The pelvic boneH nre olso helpful In making this test as these two bones tend to -lo- up when the lien stops ln.lng. If thf sprend he-tweHii he-tweHii the' lioni- ij'ftiir(s tw lingers or less the probability Is thai the hen Is not lulng, while If Dip spread Is greater, together with other Indications mentioned, she Is probably laying. |